FMG Commands Monaco as Knechtel Takes the Championship Lead
FMG led all 36 laps to secure a first Championship victory at Monaco, while Valentin Knechtel's second place and Florian Masse's troubled classification transformed the order at the head of the table.
A victory without surrender
There was no ambiguity about the principal figure in the fifth round at Monaco. FMG took charge from the opening lap and was still there when the 36 laps had run their course, completing a controlled start-to-finish victory in the Maserati 250F. It was his first win of the Championship, and it came with the authority of a man who had allowed no other driver even a lap at the front.
The quickest lap belonged to FMG as well, a 1:40.385 which underlined the quality of the drive. Florian Masse, though his race would end far from the leading battle, came within six thousandths of that mark with a 1:40.391. Such a figure served as a small reminder of the speed still present in the Frenchman's Maserati, even as the afternoon turned against his larger ambitions.
Behind the winner, Knechtel brought his Maserati home second and Flashor completed the podium. Neither had the means, on this evidence, to disturb FMG's command of the race, but Knechtel's result would carry a significance beyond the immediate honours.
The table is overturned
Masse had arrived at Monaco leading Knechtel by five points, with FMG a further margin behind. By the end of the race the positions had altered sharply. Knechtel's second place carried him to the Championship lead on 146 points, twelve clear of Masse, while FMG's victory moved him up to third with 133.
Masse was classified 15th after completing 32 laps, four short of the race distance. It was a costly reversal at precisely the wrong moment, for only one round now remains. Knechtel had not won the race, but his measured second place proved the more decisive result in the contest he had been conducting with Masse.
FMG, meanwhile, has made a substantial intervention of his own. Before Monaco he stood 21 points from the Championship leader; afterwards the difference is 13. His win has therefore drawn him appreciably nearer to the summit, though the immediate prize of leadership belongs to Knechtel.
A crowded contest behind the leaders
The more changeable part of the race lay behind the leading pair. Alex Senna was running as low as eighth after lap 18, yet recovered steadily to finish fourth, ahead of Marc Orós in fifth and Nat Stevenson in sixth. It was a particularly useful drive in a race where positions were seldom settled for long.
Stevenson, Orós and DriK formed the core of an animated middle group. From early in the race through to lap 17 they circulated in close company, with the order repeatedly being revised. Stevenson moved ahead of DriK early on; Orós gained the advantage over DriK shortly after; and the positions continued to change before Orós finally secured fifth and Stevenson sixth.
DriK was classified ninth after completing 35 laps. His race had been conducted in the thick of that contest, including a spell in which he fought Stevenson closely and later traded places with Orós. Senna's recovery eventually carried him clear of those engagements, leaving the Spaniard just off the podium but with fourth place well earned.
The cost of Monaco
Flashor's third place was a sound salvage after an incident on lap four dropped him from third to fourth. He restored himself sufficiently to reach the podium, an important result on a day when Monaco dealt unevenly with several of the established runners.
Further back, Max Solmyr made the most conspicuous advance through the classification. Starting 15th, he rose four places on the first lap and continued his climb to seventh at the end of the 36 laps. He and Mika Hakala had run closely in the early stages, but Solmyr emerged from that portion of the race with the stronger result.
For FMG, however, there was no need for recovery or rescue. He had seized the race at its beginning and kept it in his keeping throughout.
Monaco has left the Championship with a new leader, a newly victorious contender, and a final round carrying a more complicated set of claims than it possessed before the cars arrived. Knechtel has the advantage, but FMG's immaculate afternoon and Masse's setback ensure that the last meeting will not be a formality.